The Girl Who Married The Moon [Paperback]

Joseph Bruchac (Author), Gayle Ross (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

A companion volume to Bruchac's Flying with the Eagle, Racing the Great Bear, this anthology focuses on the role of women in traditional Indian cultures. Culled from 16 Native North American cultures, these traditional tribal tales dwell on the time in a young girl's life when she discovers she is becoming a woman. Illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bruchac and Ross (How Rabbit Tricked Otter) team up for a companion volume to Bruchac's Flying with Eagle, Racing with Great Bear, a collection of Native American tales that focused on boys' rites of passage. Here, girls or young women are the protagonists of 16 stories intended "to reach the daughters and granddaughters who will come after." Becoming a woman and marrying correctly are common themes: brave and resourceful heroines escape monsters and kidnappers, comically avoid marriage to trickster Owl or tragically die with their husbands. Unusual selections include "The Beauty Way," a recounting of an Apache rite of passage; "Stonecoat," the defeat of an evil and powerful medicine man by women who use the power of their "moontime"; and the title story, in which a girl not only marries the moon but shares his job with him. Comments on the stories open the four sections of the book (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest), each of which contains tales from four different nations (e.g., Penobscot, Seneca, Passamaquoddy and Mohegan for the Northeast). An afterword and source notes close this useful resource for storytelling and multicultural learning. Ages 10-13.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-What sets this book apart from other collections of Native American tales is its focus on women. Of the 16 stories (4 from each corner of the U.S.), most are relatively unknown. In one Pandora-like tale, the heroine's curiosity is rewarded, not punished. A Cinderella variant, on the other hand, ends unhappily. Several selections involve abduction; there is a bit of cruelty and gore; and one romantic story ends tragically. Edging toward nonfiction, two pieces reflect actual coming-of-age ceremonies, and another celebrates the courage of a woman during the historical battle of Rosebud Creek. Although none of the retellings has the individual power of some Native-heroine tales available in picture-book form, e.g., Rafe Martin's Rough-Face Girl (Putnam, 1992), the volume as a whole is valuable and, as its introduction points out, will balance the popular image of the passive "squaw."-Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Troll Communications (October 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081673481X
• ISBN-13: 978-0816734818
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,960,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joseph Bruchac is a highly acclaimed Abenaki children's book author, poet, novelist and storyteller, as well as a scholar of Native American culture. Coauthor with Michael Caduto of the bestselling Keepers of the Earth series, Bruchac's poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from Akwesasne Notes and American Poetry Review to National Geographic and Parabola. He has authored more than 50 books for adults and children. For more information about Joseph, please visit his website www.josephbruchac.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Girl Who Married The Moon, January 24, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Girl Who Married The Moon (Paperback)

The stories that this book tells are incredible teachings that let our imagination flow. We see how strong women can be. Some stories talk about young girls and how they grow and become women. These Northeastern, Southeastern, Southwestern, and Northwestern Native American stories are intriguingly magical, sad, and even hysterical at times. We read 16 stories of 16 girls in adolescence all of whom mature. Penobscot, Seneca, Mohegan, Cherokee, Muskogee, Peoria, Caddo, Santa Clara Pueblo, Cochiti Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, Cheyenne, and Alutiq, among others, are cultures that are learned about in these stories. There is that girl, who married the moon. There is another, who made us humans lose the trust of turkeys, which has made them wild. Read tales passed down generations from the Native American culture.
My opinion: I thought this book was alright. It wasn't too intriguing to begin with when I picked it up, but I would rate it a good 3 out of 5 stars. I wasn't bored to death by the stories. The way of retelling the story as Joseph Bruchac and Gayle Ross did, was pretty good. It was pretty cool that they told a little bit about the northeastern, southeastern, northwestern, and southwestern parts before continuing the storytelling.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Girl Who Married the Moon, March 1, 2011

By 

Mary E. Young "JanaRose1" (Covington, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Girl Who Married the Moon: Tales from Native North America (Paperback)

This book provides four folktales each from four different regions of the United States: northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest. The stories center around themes that celebrate womanhood, coming of age and the passage from girlhood to womanhood. These stories were delightful and entertaining. I believe any child, especially a girl, would enjoy these folktales and stories of strong and courageous women.

3.0 out of 5 stars The girl who married the moon, January 25, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Girl Who Married The Moon (Paperback)

The stories that this book tells are incredible teachings that let our imagination flow. We see how strong women can be. Some stories talk about young girls and how they grow and become women. These Northeastern, Southeastern, Southwestern, and Northwestern Native American stories are intriguingly magical, sad, and even hysterical at times. We read 16 stories of 16 girls in adolescence all of whom mature. Penobscot, Seneca, Mohegan, Cherokee, Muskogee, Peoria, Caddo, Santa Clara Pueblo, Cochiti Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, Cheyenne, and Alutiq, among others, are cultures that are learned about in these stories. There is that girl, who married the moon. There is another, who made us humans lose the trust of turkeys, which has made them wild. Read tales passed down generations from the Native American culture.
My opinion: I thought this book was alright. It wasn't too intriguing to begin with when I picked it up, but I would rate it a good 3 out of 5 stars. I wasn't bored to death by the stories. The way of retelling the story as Joseph Bruchac and Gayle Ross did, was pretty good. It was pretty cool that they told a little bit about the northeastern, southeastern, northwestern, and southwestern parts before continuing the storytelling.